HMS Bounty, movie ship known for visiting Bay City festivals, sinks off North Carolina

By Erich T. Doerr for the Daily News

Published 10:12 am, Monday, October 29, 2012

Tragedy struck off the coast of North Carolina today as the old fashioned sailing ship, HMS Bounty, sank while battling Hurricane Sandy with a crew of 16 on board.

Most of the crew has reportedly been rescued. According to USA Today and the U.S. Coast Guard, all 16 crew members made it into the life rafts before the Bounty went down but only 14 have been confirmed as rescued by the Coast Guard using MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters. The fate and identity of the other two crew members is unknown. A previous Coast Guard report that the vessel had a crew of 17 has been confirmed as false.

The Bounty is an enlarged replica of the famous original that began serving the British Royal Navy in 1787 before its legendary crew revolt two years later. The current ship was built for use in the filming of the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” before later being used for other films including some of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

The 180-foot, three-masted Bounty had a local connection — in 2003 and 2010 it visited Bay City to take part in the city’s Tall Ships Festival. The festival’s organizers quickly heard of the sinking and remain worried for the crew.

“We heard first thing this morning,” event coordinator Shirley Roberts said. “It’s tragic ... The only good side to the story is how many of the crew have been rescued.”

According to Roberts, the nature of tall ships is that crews come and go. She said she had met the Bounty’s Captain Robin Walbridge and that he was onboard during the sinking but added she is unsure if he is among the rescued or the missing.

“It’s been my privilege to meet him on several occasions,” Roberts said.

Roberts said the day’s events are a reminder of the power of some storms.

“You can never outguess Mother Nature,” Roberts said. “I’m sure Captain Walbridge made what he thought were the right decisions for his crew ... We hold them up in our prayers.”

Before the sinking the Bounty had recently had routine maintenance performed on it during a month in dry dock at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine. According to the website WorkBoat.com the Bounty was launched last week following completion of the work which included a new coat of paint, caulking leaky seams, new crew quarters and some other normal repairs. The Associated Press reported that HMS Bounty Organization director Tracie Simonin said the ship had left Connecticut last week for a trip to St. Petersburg, Fla. at the time of the sinking.

According to the Bounty’s Facebook page, the ship lost power Sunday night and began taking on water faster than its pumps could remove it. The site added a command was given by Captain Walbridge to abandon ship at about 4:30 a.m. this morning and the Coast Guard reported the first of its two helicopters reached and began rescuing the crew about two hours later. Even after the crew abandoned ship there were reports the Bounty itself was upright and intact but later it was reported by the Coast Guard that by 8:45 a.m. the ship had sunk. A report on the Coast Guard’s website listed weather conditions at the scene included winds of 40 mph and 18-foot seas.

The Bounty was scheduled to return for the next Bay City Tall Ships Festival in July 2013.